Pyrophosphate baking powders



Jan. 20, 1959 w. E. BARCH 2,870,017

PYROPHOSPHATE BAKING PowDERs Filed Nov. so, 195e 30 ca soa 82Min JLM z,s7o,o11 PYRoPHosPHATE BAKING PownERs William E. Barch, Stamford, Conn., assignor to Standard Brands Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application November 30, 1956, Serial No. 625,520

9 Claims. (Cl. 9995)l Most modern baking powders are of the double action v type, i, e., they contain a fast-acting acid to release sufricient carbon dioxide quickly enough to give a high viscosity, low density batter and a good lift during the early stages of baking before the starch coagulation ternperature is reached, and a slow acting acid to liberate the balance and major part of the carbon dioxide slowly during the remainder of the baking period and tov some extent as the finished cake cools. The quickly released gas acts before structure has set and is essential to best texture and maximum volume in the finished cake; the slowly released gas is essential to maintenance of maximum volume with minimum shrinkage lafter the cake structure has set, Le., during the middle 'and last stages of baking and during cooling.

An object of the invention is to provide a double action baking powder having improvedfkeeping qualities.

A further object of the invention isto provide a baking powder Whose acid acting ingredients consistl essentially of an alkali metal acid pyrophosphate and calcium sulfate whereby the keeping properties of the baking powder are enhanced.

Baking powders composed of sodium bicarbonate and calcium sulfate with or without a iller have been proposed but they have little leavening action.

Baking powders are known in which sodium acid pyrophosphate is the only acid but they are seldom used for two reasons. They lack double ac tion properties,

1 that is, little or no gas is released during the mixing stage, resulting in a low viscosity, runny batter and poor rise during the early heating stage in the oven. Texture of the resulting baked goods is adversely affected because temperatures are above the coagulation point of starch before more than a minor part of the leavening gas is released. Secondly, the residual salt, sodium tetra pyrophosphate, has a rather astringent bitter taste, readily noticeable in the baked goods.

It is customary, therefore, in pyrophosphate baking powders to have present, calcium ions .to form tasteless neutral calcium pyrophosphate as residual salt, and a fast acting baking acid to give the proper release of gas in the batter before the oven. Both purposes are accomplished with monocalcium orthophosphate in U. S. Patent No. 1,834,747. However, mixtures of ortho and pyro phosphates are quite unstable with respect to absorption of atmospheric moisture and baking powders containing such mixtures have poorer shelf life than when either component is used singly.

When calcium sulfate'was used with mixtures of the nited States Patent O 2,870,0i? n Patented Jan. 20, 1959 ice -ortho and pyro phosphates, the instability of the orthopyro combination-was greatly accentuated.

When calcium sulfate was used with an alkali metal pyrophosphate alone, three unexpected results were obtained in that, (l) keeping qualities were enhanced rather than reduced, (2) the baking powder had the typical double action character described above and (3) sucient calcium ions were released to eliminate the residual pyro taste. Thus the net eifect was the same as if calcium monophosphate had been used with the added advantages of lower cost and increased shelf life.

The following are examples of baking powders made in accordance with the invention.

A B C Sodium Acid Pyrophos'phate 4l. 7 41. 7 4l. 7 Sodium Bicarbonato 30.0 30. O 30. 0 Calcium Sulfate 5.0 14.1 28. 3 Starch 23. 3 14. 2

dissociated into`weakvcalcium and strong sulfuric ions,

the latter being the fast acting acid in the double action pair. It also follows that the rate of solution of the calcium sulfate and availability of vthe strong sulfuric ion will be greatest early in the-batter mixing stage when the greatest amount of the quickly dissolving sodium bicarbonate is available. As -it decreases, the amount of sulfuric ion reacting decreases, thus automatically lim- D E F Sodium Bicarbonate 30 30 30 Starch l Y f 29 29.3 14.2 Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate ..36 41.7 Calcium Sulfate 55. 8 Monoealeium- Phosphate 2... 5

The reaction rates of these baking powders in yellow cake batter are expressed in the following table as total carbon dioxide evolved at minute intervals.

Minutes B D E F 29. 5 30. 9 22. 8 19. 0 36. 7 39.8 29.0 23. 2 41.7 44.1 32. 4 26. 2 42. 9 45. 1 33. 4 26. 6 43. G l45. 5 33. 8 26. 9 44. 2 45. 8 34. 1 26. 9 44. 6 46. 0 34. 4 27. l 45. 2 46. 5 34. 7 27. 3 45. 7 46. 7 35.0 27. 5 46.0 46.8 35. 2 27. 5

These reaction rates are shown graphically in Fig. I of the drawing.-

nBaking results obtainedv with baking powdersY B, D and E are given in the following table.

and not in a. limiting sense.

gives results similar to those obtained with baking powder D.

To determine the gain in shelf life obtained according to the invention bythe use ofv calcium ysulfate as the fast acting acid instead of-monocalcium phosphate, baking powders B and D were 'stored in the Jacksonville, 3

Florida climate and theV carbon dioxide loss was determined in each case after storage for' 3, 6, 9, 15 and 2l weeks. The resultsY obtained are given in the following table and are shown graphically in Fig. `II of the drawing.

Percent of total CO2 ylostA aferis'tv'o'rage in Jacksonville, Florida, climate Time, Weeks v Baking Baking -Powder B Powder D Whereas, baking powder D lost 10% of its carbon dioxide content in 81/2V weeks, baking powder B did not lose this amount of carbon dioxide until after 13' weeks, thus showing a gain in shelf life of 53%.

Formula B used in the' foregoing te'sts is' typical of the baking powders of the present invention. Formulae A and C give comparable results.

Since certain modifications maybe made in the com positions which embody'the invention without departing from its scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted asillustrative It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described.

I claim:

1. A baking powder comprising a baking carbonate and material capable of reacting therewith to liberate carbon dioxide said material consisting essentially of an alkali metal acidpyrophosphate and calcium sulfate.

2. Abaking powder comprising sodiumy bicarbonate, an alkali metal acid pyrophosphate and' fast acting acidic material, the fast acting acidic material consisting essentially of calcium sulfate.

3. A double action pyrophosphate baking powder containing calciumsulfatev as the sole fast-acting acid constituent.

4. A baking powder consisting essentially of sodium bicarbonate, sodium acid pyrophosphate and calcium sulfate.

5. A baking powder as claimed yin claim 4 containing a filler.

Parts Sodium bicarbonate 30 Sodium acid pyro'ghosphatel 42 Calcium sulfate 5-28 Filler 0-23 V8. A bakingpowder comprising thefollowing ingredients in approximately `the indicated proportions:

Parts Sodium bicarbonate 30 Sodium acid pyrophosphate 42 Calcium sulfate 10-20 Filler 8;-18

9. A baking powder comprising the following ingredients in approximately the indicated proportions:

Parts Sodium bicarbonate 30 Sodium acid pyrophosphate 42 Calcium' sulfate 14 Starch 14 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,000,160 Bro'eg4 kMay 7, 1935 2,131,433 Fiske Sept. 2,7, 1938 2,793,121 N'ovitsky May 21, 1957 OTHER REFERENCES Journal of The'Association-ofOicial Agricultural Chemistsfvvol. 2, No. 4, pp. v22S to229 (1917'). 

1. A BAKING POWDER COMPRISING A BAKING CARBONATE AND MATERIAL CAPABLE OF REACTING THEREWITH TO LIBERATE CARBON DIOXIDE SAID MATERIAL CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF AN ALKALI METAL ACID PYROPHOSPHATE AND CALCIUM SULFATE. 